Who knew that rioters and looters were covered under Phase 1 of the re-opening plan?

High school graduation ceremonies with 260 students are still verboten, but if you and several thousand of your comrades want to get together and torch a church or flip over a few police cruisers, no one’s going to stop you — or even tell you to social distance.

To their credit, though, the peaceful rioters were years ahead of everybody else when it comes to wearing masks.

Meanwhile, as the rest of us slog through our phased, data-driven re-opening (my favorite kind of re-opening), it may be helpful to examine what “data-driven” really means.Continue reading ‘Data-driven derangement’

Gov. Charlie Baker’s re-opening plan, as timid as it is, has lockdown enthusiasts grasping at straws to stem the trickle (one can hardly call it a tide) of normalcy returning to the Bay State.

Back in mid-March, it never occurred to anyone that this economic shutdown would go on for nine long weeks (and counting). Two or three weeks, maybe a month was the unspoken assumption. Some people even bought into it — mainly those who could “work from home” or were otherwise still collecting a paycheck.

But after about 30 days, the novelty began to wear off and cold, hard reality began to sink in. Fun’s fun, but national economic suicide is not a sustainable model, which is why it had never been done anywhere, for any reason, in the history of human civilization.Continue reading ‘Summer of no fun’

You can have economic devastation or death. You can have your livelihood or your life. There are no other options, so take your pick.

That’s the way it’s being framed by amateur epidemiologists on social media, who can always find some “study” on the internet to justify expanding restrictions and extending the lockdown until – well, that’s none of your business.

I used to laugh at those who likened our shutdown to martial law. But every time I’m sure that things can’t possibly get more restrictive, they get more restrictive. And our shutdown drags on without even a glimmer of light at the end of this long and very dark tunnel.Continue reading ‘Cruel choices’

Either you want everybody to live under lockdown indefinitely (if you call that living) or you care more about Wall Street and corporate profits than human life.

Have I got that about right?

If you express any concern about the economy, it’s not because you hope small business owners, who have invested their hearts, souls and life savings, can salvage something of their hopes and dreams.

No. You’re literally “a murderer” who cares more about corporations than lives. Because everyone knows that small business owners are nothing but corporate tycoons and robber barons in waiting.Continue reading ‘Many ways to care’

As we plunge headlong toward the apocalypse, I’ve had lots of time to reflect.

One thing I’ve been thinking about is rules and regulations, and lately, I’ve had no shortage of new ones to ponder.

One silver lining is the governor’s new ban on reusable cloth shopping bags. As it turns out, those of us who said that these germ-infested receptacles were carrying more than just almond milk and kale were right all along!Continue reading ‘Walk this way’

Just days after Tuesday’s Presidential Primary Election, voting is still much on the minds of the populace. I know, some of you early-voted the previous week because who votes on Election Day anymore, right?